copyright-Prince_dburtonWhether it’s a nifty idea you had for a drawing that you end up sketching out one evening or a new clip you shot last weekend to edit and upload to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or another digital platform, have you ever wondered if or what content or ideas of yours are eligible for copyright protection?  Fundamentally, our copyright laws seek to protect inherent rights that an author or creator has in exclusive original works while maintaining accessibility by the public to such works.[1]  Responsible for protecting expressive works representing over $1.5 trillion dollars of core economic activity (accounting for nearly 7.5% of all economic activity across the United States) and helping facilitate employment for over 5.7 million people, copyright laws contribute significantly to help drive creation of economic activity and support growth.[2]  Copyright laws are intended to incentivize the production of creative works by granting authors the exclusive right to engage in the distribution and economic commercialization of their works—a form of limited, statutorily-created monopoly.